Monday, August 20, 2012

I love ESPN Radio. I listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning, The Herd, and The Scott van Pelt Show on a pretty religious basis. However, I get annoyed frequently by the fact that there are certain teams which could be considered 'favorites' based on the amount of time they spend talking about them. I tweeted this annoyance a while back with regards to the Boston Red Sox. Now that it is football season, my annoyance has moved to the New York Jets.

The fact that they spend an inordinate amount of time talking about the Jets means that they also spend an inordinate amount of time talking about back-up quarterback Tim Tebow. Note: I wrote 'back-up.' He's not even the starter, and yet he gets more air time than arguably ANY of the starters in the NFL. Now don't get me wrong, I like Tim Tebow. And that's difficult for me to admit, considering I am an Ohio State fan (see the 2007 BCS National Championship). He's a great guy and seems to be a strong Christian, which I think garners him the amount of press that he receives, but by most accounts, he is a below-average QB. And yet, he gets way more attention than just about everybody else in the NFL.

I think it's similar to 'Christian' movies. Several movies have been produced by Christians in recent years and have been released in mainstream movie theaters. They tend to garner a lot of press and conversation in the circles I find myself in because they are 'Christian' and promote good values. I remember someone talking about one such movie, Courageous, calling it amazing! So I watched it with high expectations. And while I valued what the movie promoted, it was NOT a good movie (if you think I'm being harsh, it currently has a 32% rating on RottenTomatoes.com, which qualifies it is a rotten tomato). It simply promoted good values, but as a work of art, it was subpar.

I think in many ways, Tim Tebow is Courageous. We like to talk about him because there is a large group of people who like what he stands up for. As a result, they are unable to see the fact that he can't throw an out pattern to save his life. I'm all for putting forth good role models, but let's not talk about them like they are relevant or outstanding in a particular field when it is clear that they are not. I'm all for promoting good morals, but do we have to use bad art to do it? Let's discuss things in their proper context. Let's not call a movie 'amazing' because it has good morals, and let's not discuss endlessly on sports talk radio a back-up (at best) QB because he is a nice guy.

What do you think? Does Tim Tebow get too much press? What is your take on 'Christian' movies?

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

I love chicken. I love it just as much as the next guy. And when Chick-Fil-A opened in The Cape, I was ecstatic! Some might say giddy. Some joked that I would have my office and a personal phone line moved there. (I'm still trying to convince the powers-that-be that this is a good idea)

All that being said, I will not be eating at Chick-Fil-A today.

I know, I know, it's Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day, or something like that. If you are on Facebook and you didn't know that, then you haven't been paying attention. Apparently it's a pretty big deal. but I won't be taking part.

The flap occurred when Dan Cathy, President of Chick-Fil-A, came out (no pun intended) and said that he was "very much supportive of the family - the Biblical definition of the family unit." It got bigger when it was uncovered that he and his family had given millions of dollars to "ant-gay" causes. This blew up bigger than when the McRib went away. People on one side of the fence started screaming, "How could he?! What a jerk! I'm never eating there again. As a matter of fact, let's go stage a same-sex kiss-in to show him who's boss." On the other side, people screamed just as loudly, "WOO-HOO!! You go, Dan! Stand up for what's right, and that ain't homosexuality. Let's have a day where we all eat at Chick-Fil-A to show our support for Dan and how much we disagree with those other people."

Which brings us to today, Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day. And I'm not going. Why not? It's not because I don't support traditional marriage, because I do. It's not because I don't value free speech, because I do. It's not because I hate chicken, because, as already stated, I LOVE me some chicken (especially from Chick-Fil-A, with their waffles fries and sweet tea ). I am not going to Chick-Fil-A today because of how this can potentially be viewed by those who are homosexuals in the midst of my community. Well-meaning Christians say that they will be going to support Dan Cathy and his right to speak and traditional marriages, but I'm afraid that it would be viewed a little differently by anyone who happens to be a homosexual. Instead of them seeing, "Those people are supporting this particular viewpoint," I fear that they will see, "They are against me." And that is something I want to steer very clear of.

Let's say a Muslim opened a burger shop. It was so yummy that it grew to epic proportions, so much so that there were franchises all over the country. One day, the President and CEO came out and said that his desire is that this would be a Muslim country. CNN reported on the comments and blogs were written. Then someone started a campaign to support his right to free speech by setting aside a day to eat there. Muslims were posting the messages on Facebook for all to see. Would we as Christians support their right to free speech, or would we feel, in some way, threatened. I think we would feel threatened.

And I don't want people who need Jesus - just as much as I do - to be so turned off by my political action that they will never see the Jesus in me.

Jesus said that the 2nd most important commandment was to love your neighbor as you love yourself. That's higher than the Bill of Rights, in my estimation. I want my life to be dictated by the question, "What is the most loving thing I can do in this situation?" Am I loving my homosexual neighbor by making a stand by eating chicken on a particular day to tell them that our beliefs are right and theirs are wrong? I don't think so. I think that might communicate something other than love for them. So that is why I am not eating at Chick-Fil-A today.

On a side note: Perhaps the most loving thing would be to show up where they are staging same-sex protests and hand out cheeseburgers. Just a thought.